December 2008
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German-American Social Club of Sarasota - Page 2 As Dieter mentions in his ‘Message from the President’, the elections are over. Four Officers and one Director end their terms on December 31, 2008. Irene Carlon and Lloyd Koontz of the Nominating Committee had been unsuccessful in finding new nominees to take these positions. The 5 incumbents agreed to another term: Dieter H. Schneider, President, new term expires December 31, 2010 Ernst Shillus, Treasurer, new term expires December 31, 2010 Brigitte Wetjen, Membership Secretary, new term expires December 31, 2010 Rosemarie Deutsch, Secretary, new term expires December 31, 2010 Erwin Wetjen, new term expires December 31, 2012 Further in office are: Gerhard Glaesel, Vice President, until August 15, 2009 Lloyd Koontz, Director, until December 31, 2010 Ron Stopperich, Director, until December 31, 2010 Erwin Deutsch, Director, until December 31, 2011 Brigitte Wetjen thanks those members who have already paid their dues for 2009. Spreading out the work makes her job a little easier and she appreciates it. However membership payment of $25.00 per person is due by January 15 th , 2009. You can pay Brigitte between now and then in person (preferably by check) or mail her a check made out to G.A.S.C. of Sarasota. Again a little reminder, especially for all our new members: our dances have become very popular, so make reservations early by calling Brigitte Wetjen at 371-7786 or e-mailing her at [email protected] . THE DEADLINE FOR RESERVATIONS IS THE WEDNESDAY PRIOR TO THE EVENT. Dances start at 7:00 pm (unless otherwise indicated, for example this New Year’s Eve) at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 4880 Fruitville Road in Sarasota. The hall opens at 6:30 pm. In the new year I will be working on a new directory. Please let Brigitte Wetjen know of any address, phone number or e-mail changes. It is important to keep this up-to-date, so that you receive newsletters and reminders in a timely fashion. The Christmas Party on December 13 th is free for all members of our club. Please bring member- ship cards as proof when checking in at the door. Other clubs’ membership will not be accepted that evening. Guests pay $10.00 at the door (with dinner included). Dinner will start right away at around 7 pm, so please be on time. On the menu is: Chicken Cordon Bleu, Rösti (potatoes), green beans and for dessert Christmas Stollen. German-American Social Club of Sarasota - Page 3 Our New Year’s Eve event is totally sold out. If you have not made any reservations yet, Brigitte could only place your name(s) on a waiting list in case there are last minute cancellations. For those with reservations, the dance will start at 8:00 pm . There will be NO dinner. We will have hors d’oeuvres on every table as well as a bottle of champagne per table for midnight toasting. Sepp will be playing until 12:30 am for your dancing pleasure. Peter Feuerstein Erika Frye Else Platt Egon and Berta Probst Gaetan LaLonde and Elisabeth Reichert June Robbins Our Sunshine Lady, Hilde Freitag, reports that several of our members have been hospitalized with various health issues, but some are now back in circulation. Elly Funk, Don Moen, Konrad Hauptvogel, Rene Mitzewich, Hannelore Jedel – you are in our thoughts in these difficult times and we wish you well. ATTENTION: There is a last-minute change! Peter Müller will replace the Bee Sharps at our January 24, 2009 Fasching dance. Last December we published the social events of other German-American Clubs and I had a lot of positive responses. Again, here are the schedules for Bradenton and Venice for 2009. German American Club of German American Friendship Manatee County Club of Venice Florida in Bradenton th January 17 , 2009 WINTERFEST January 10 th , 2009 Klement & Michal Sepp Diepolder Kachovic February 21 st , 2009 MARDI GRAS February 14 th , 2009 Sepp Diepolder Alpine Express March 14 th , 2009 Peter Müller March 21 st , 2009 Springtime in Venice th April 11 , 2009 Mario De Leon Peter & Edith Müller th th May 9 , 2009 Harmony – Tom & April 18 , 2009 HAWAIIAN NIGHT Mary Ann Estock Jess-N-Joan September 12 th , 09 Just the 2 of Us October 17 th , 2009 OKTOBERFEST October 10 th , 2009 Klement & Michal Peter & Edith Müller Kachovic November 21 st , 2009 WINZERFEST th November 14 , 09 Mario De Leon Manni Daum th th December 12 , 09 Peter Müller December 19 , 2009 CHRISTMAS PARTY Heinz Schmuck It is important to make reservations , Again, make sure you call for reservations, call Elvira Sommerfeld @ 761-3833 Sonja @ 497-2692 German-American Social Club of Sarasota - Page 4 Here are a few more details as to start, price, food and entertainment about the next German Heritage Day on March 29 th , 2009. For those of you interested in attending, tickets for our members and their guests are available by contacting Ron Stopperich at 358-0621. Please note “Advance Sale ONLY”. There are no tickets available at the door. German-American Social Club of Sarasota - Page 5 Travels to Down Under We spent several weeks this Fall touring Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. It was early Spring in Australia. The trip from Tampa to Melbourne is about 10,000 miles. You can’t go further with- out coming back. We found Australia and New Zealand surprisingly different from each other in many ways despite the fact that both countries were initially populated by the British. Australia has a more American feel probably because it is large and the interior known as the Outback is reminiscent of the American southwest with red hills, the well known Ayers Rock, (a 1100 foot high red sandstone monolith) the desert and cattle ran- ches. Cairns on the northeast coast of Australia reminded us of Florida with its tropical trees and warm weather. The Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia and the rainforest in northeast Australia are wonders to see. We saw the Reef closely with a glass-bottomed boat and from a helicopter. The rainforest was observed from a four mile gondola ride. Sydney, Australia’s largest city, has a beautiful harbor with over a hundred miles of shore and thousands of shore front homes, marinas full of sailboats, a beautiful opera house, a famous bridge. On shore, Sydney has stores, markets, restaurants and parks befitting a world class city. New Zealand is about 1000 miles southeast of Australia. The population is only 4 million compared to Australia’s 20 million. New Zealand is more British in tone and is green with a lovely city like Christchurch that has public formal gardens, museums, cathedral squares, and very British homes. The landscape has beautiful snow-capped mountains and there are lots of sheep on the hillsides. We visited a sheep station where sheep were sheared for their wool and seemed to offer little resistance to the process which takes only a few minutes. It is evident to us that the native aborig- ines in Australia live in a segregated society. We rarely saw them except in the outback where they were seen at cultural centers. However, the native Maoris in New Zealand were seen to be more integrated in everyday life. The Maoris live in homes in Auckland and have regular jobs. The experience of this tour was well worth the 13 hour flight from Los Angeles to get there. Stephanie and Milt Kruk German-American Social Club of Sarasota - Page 6 Weihnachtsabend Theodor Storm Die fremde Stadt durchschritt ich sorgenvoll, der Kinder denkend, die ich lie β zu Haus. Weihnachten war’s; durch alle Gassen scholl der Kinderjubel und des Markts Gebraus. Und wie der Menschenstrom mich fortgespült, drang mir ein heiser Stimmlein in das Ohr: „Kauft, lieber Herr!” Ein mag’res Händchen hielt feilbietend mir ein ärmlich Spielzeug vor. Ich schrak empor, und beim Laternenschein sah ich ein bleiches Kinderangesicht; wes Alters und Geschlechts es mochte sein, erkannt’ ich im Vorübertreiben nicht. Nur von dem Treppenstein, darauf es sa β, noch immer hört’ ich, mühsam, wie es schien: „Kauft, lieber Herr!” den Ruf ohn’ Unterla β, doch hat wohl keiner ihm Gehör verlieh’n. Und ich? – War’s Ungeschick, war es die Scham, am Weg zu handeln mit dem Bettelkind? Eh’ meine Hand zu meiner Börse kam, verscholl das Stimmlein hinter mir im Wind. Doch als ich endlich war mit mir allein, erfa βte mich die Angst im Herzen so, als sä βe mein eigen Kind auf jenem Stein und schrie nach Brot, indessen ich entfloh . German-American Social Club of Sarasota - Page 7 The Twelve Days of Christmas The festival of Dreikönigstag (Epiphany) in German-speaking countries marks the end of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” and commemorates the appearance of the Magi or the Three Wise Men. About half a million Sternsinger (star singers) between 7 and 17 years old will go from house to house in Germany on the eve of January 6 th , Dreikönigstag (or anytime between December 27 th and that day) as part of the largest charity event for children by children. Proceeds go to projects supporting children throughout the world*. The tradition goes back to ancient times, but was first recorded in the 16 th century. The “star singers” traditionally roam the streets, dressed as the Three Wise Men, to commemorate the “Three Kings” who found the Christ child. One child carries a large golden star (representing the star that led the Three Kings to Bethlehem), another carries a lantern to light the way and the third carries a large basket to hold the gifts they expect to receive for their song.